You Don't Drown By Falling In The Water, You Drown By Staying There
by DenniBenni
Summary: You Don't Drown By Falling In The Water; Your Drown By Staying There. -Edwin Louis Cole.


AN: Just got this idea sitting here watching Titanic. You'll probably get why it loosely inspired it. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice or its characters!

Summary: You Don't Drown By Falling In The Water; Your Drown By Staying There. -Edwin Louis Cole.

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"Tim…honestly what were you thinking?"

_A question. _

_**Another**_ question. The same one that had been asked exactly four times now and he was truthfully tired of hearing it cross his ears. He was trying to ignore the fact that he had ruined the mission. That he had blown their cover. That he had done pretty much everything wrong and now there was no telling what was going to happen next.

Timothy Drake looked up through his bangs that were plaster to his forehead with water. He had his knees to his chest, sitting on the medical bed, a glazed look washed over his blue eyes. Dick Grayson stared at him, his two blue orbs completely and utterly confused about what had happened only an hour before. Or, as Tim had counted an hour, two minutes, and ten seconds.

The younger of the two shrugged slightly and replied in a hoarse voice, "I…I don't know."

_An honest reply._

"Tim you could have died," Dick stated firmly as he placed both hands on the mattress on either side of Tim, and leaned forward to make eye contact with him. The boy was chewing on his bottom lip, finally meeting his brother's gaze with eyes that were still too blank and empty to read. Dick whispered, "You almost drowned."

"You brought me back," Tim replied. "You didn't let me die."

_A reassurance._

Dick shook his head, slowly turning to sit next to the boy on the medical bed. He placed his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He mumbled, "But, if I had been a few more minutes late. Just a few more, you would be dead. You stopped _breathing, _Tim. You stopped breathing and you were _gone_."

_Worry._

"I'm not gone," Tim said with a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. "I'm not Jason." As soon as he said it, he regretted it because he could tell Dick had stiffened next to him. Immediately he apologized, "Sorry."

Dick didn't reply and instead rubbed his face with his hands. Tim asked after a few more moments of complete silence, "Did you call Bruce?"

"I had to," Dick hissed. "You almost died. We can't keep that from him."

Tim stared at the back of Dick's head and thought about what had happened to lead up to this. Just a routine recon mission, which had ended with him taking a dip into the Hudson Bay. A cold one at that and being knocked out didn't help. All he remembered was being hit in the head with a lead pipe and falling off of the yacht. Then suddenly he was coughing up water and Dick was repeating his thanks to whatever had brought him back.

Tim asked in a hushed voice, "Are you angry with me?"

_Fear._

Dick's head snapped around and he was staring at the teen. He studied the boy's face and saw the concern that was etched across it. His face softened. Tim was always worried about being good enough and making sure he wasn't a disappointment. He was always so careful, and this was probably eating the fourteen year old away from the inside out.

"No," Dick stated quickly, sitting to full height. He pulled Tim into a bone crushing hug, Tim stiffening at the physical contact. He soon relaxed though and allowed his older brother to hold him and rock him back and forth while raking a hand through his damp hair. Dick continued, "I'm not mad or angry. I was just scared. You just scared me, Tim. That's all. Don't worry about me being angry because I'm definitely not that."

_Relief._

"Ok," Tim whispered, barely audible, even in the silent room. The younger felt his brother place a small kiss on the top of head as he continued to rock them back and forth on the bed. Tim wasn't exactly sure whose comfort it was for.

Dick said quietly, "I love you."

Tim's eyes closed as he sighed, exhaustion washing over him. Sometimes he hated it when Dick told him that because he didn't know how to respond to it. The only "I love yous" he ever got as a child were ones that his parents forced to make good impressions on people or on the post cards they would send when they couldn't make it to another birthday or holiday. And even then, they all felt fake. Dick's were always so genuine and so were Barbara's. He never knew how to reply to them so he usually just nodded and smiled awkwardly.

But, this time he answered in the most sincere voice imaginable…

"_I love you too."_

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Hope you liked it, please review!


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